New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #27

Carl Schneiderwrote:

I often have a plan for a climbing session but it goes out the window within five mins and I end up climbing what inspires me. I need to lose some fat but also gain some muscle. The problem with losing muscle mass as one ages is that with loser skin you end up looking like a cross between Iggy Pop and Grandpa Simpson. 

I've got loose skin everywhere. And look rather reptilian, for all the wrinkles.

I need to do the not very likely: lose fat, gain muscle, but not gain weight. Weight and arthritis are not good. But muscle weighs more, so there's that.

Since we are only a few days off from MLK day, I will add that, my late hubby was on the mall for the I have a dream speech. About the only thing I ever envied him for, although I would have been too young to appreciate it. He was born in 1950, me, 1957. The JFK assassination, for me, was mostly an annoyance that seemed to go on forever, preempting my cartoons and such on tv. 

Snow number 5, yesterday, and ice on top of it. It sounds hollow now, and crunches when you walk on it. 

I'm hibernating, hoping the big melt hurries up. Ugly slop is the worst, imo.

H.

Played hookey from work today. i was sick of freezing my butt half off on the side of a house so I figured it would be better to freeze it on a cliff.  Cold, single digits to low teens throughout the day but windy.  We did a 2 pitch climb called Galss Menagerie WI5   The conditions were tricky and hard. lots of layers and fracturing.  

I took P 1and it climbed pretty hard. some kind of easy 5 but tricky conditions.  worked me pretty hard. steepest thing I have been on all year. Its been such lousy conditions that this feels like early December not late January. 

Eric approaching the belay.

Eric is a young pup. Only 40ish so apparently it was reasonable to lead grade 5 on his first time out this season.

the variation he took ended up being 5+ and worked us both really hard. character building hard ;)  The business started right off the belay and never stopped until the trees.  

The sun went away and the wind picked up. It got gnarly cold for a bit. 

 some Frenchie's on  the easy part of 20 below Zero Gully 4+

 with all the washouts we have had this year the lake is still not frozen over. 

when I took my belay jacket off to follow the pitch it was lined with ice from my frozen sweat. 

the pitch was so steep that once you got on it you can only see a little bit of it at a time.

the camera froze up and thats the last picture. Finally enough snow to butt slide down to the road.. I lost a 7cm screw in the snow while we were racking up.... stupid.... 

 

​ some Frenchie's on  the easy part of 20 below Zero Gully 4+

  

 

Slur or no slur? Discuss.

Really nice pictures Nick!  Looks like you had a great day playing hooky! It’s hard to imagine being in that kind of cold.

We are having kind of a warm winter.  Keep waiting for a little rain or a little snow and so far it hasn’t happened.

I got out yesterday with Bob to try something a little harder on King Dome. The days are numbered when I can climb there due to weather, so I take advantage of every possible outing. I just thought it was time to get back on Tiptoe to Topanga 10b and see where I’m at physically. It a hard route, at my limit, and I was happy that there was no pain in my knee and none of the crushing fatigue that I experienced so often last year. I had one fall at the crux. I would love to be able to handle this route comfortably because then there might also be hope for some of the others.  I still need to build some additional strength and technique to really do this right.

This memory of Run For Your Life popped up on my phone today. It’s still brings me a lot of joy to see.  But may I add there is still a route to the far right that I may never see...  ahem.  The only part of this route that was difficult for me was that little traverse on the bottom... I think I lost my footing and took a little swing.  

But once on that headwall... WOW.  :-)  Tiny speck in red "Dave's Not Here" tshirt.  

This was not me.  This was the guy who lead the route.  (Zach?) 

I've been thinking about the winter/spring garden.  Do you think anything in the cabbage family could survive before March?  Kinda antsy to plant something.  

5 out of 6 climbing days is too much.  
going back to 1 on 2 off starting next week.

Body sore, flash pumped on stuff I normally cruise… good workout, but definitely to failure.

Lori… good to see you climbing.
For an early crop I suggest Garlic… buy garlic made to plant, not what they sell to cook with. Soak the bulbs for 2-3 days and plant them 5-6 inches deep. You should see them show up in about 10 days. Good luck with them- you’ll probably find that some desert critter really loves to eat them but you know how to protect them.
Good luck 

If you are looking for something to be offended by certainly frenchy will do. I use it as a term of respect. They climb hard. I suspect Yankee is also a slur if you are looking to be offended but I am proud to be one. 

Old lady Hwrote:

I've got loose skin everywhere. And look rather reptilian, for all the wrinkles.

I need to do the not very likely: lose fat, gain muscle, but not gain weight. Weight and arthritis are not good. But muscle weighs more, so there's that.

Since we are only a few days off from MLK day, I will add that, my late hubby was on the mall for the I have a dream speech. About the only thing I ever envied him for, although I would have been too young to appreciate it. He was born in 1950, me, 1957. The JFK assassination, for me, was mostly an annoyance that seemed to go on forever, preempting my cartoons and such on tv. 

Snow number 5, yesterday, and ice on top of it. It sounds hollow now, and crunches when you walk on it. 

I'm hibernating, hoping the big melt hurries up. Ugly slop is the worst, imo.

H.

I know very little about American history, but are you talking about MLK day and JFK because JFK referenced MLK’s ‘I have a dream’ thing? I think he did, didn’t he?  What does ‘preempting ‘my’ cartoons’ mean?
Hibernating is Knice. 

[I always spell ‘nice’ as ‘Knice’ on social media and even pronounce it as such with my climbing friends because I like to make up words and pronounce words wrong. It’s a silly weird thing I do.]

I wuz practicing my fine motor skills tonight, I added two more calcite beads to my necklace and re-threaded it as I think it wuz getting worn out.

 Bouldering indoors tomorrow as it’s going to be 35 degrees Celsius and I’m already a bit burnt from my holiday trips. I’ll do more weight lifting too, I’m quite enjoying lifting weights again. Might try some really light dumbbell flys, light because I have a bad left shoulder. 

“E. B. White explained it well: To foreigners, a Yankee is an American. To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner. To Northerners, a Yankee is a New Englander. To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter. And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.”

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

If you are looking for something to be offended by certainly frenchy will do. I use it as a term of respect. They climb hard. I suspect Yankee is also a slur if you are looking to be offended but I am proud to be one. 

Are you kidding? NOT BITING ON THIS ONE, NICK!  

—- 

I read a study a couple of days ago, and now I can’t find the study, about two groups of people who were fed a diet rich in olive oil – – organic extra-virgin olive oil (the green stuff), and the other got regular olive oil. The organic extra-virgin group had a significant reduction of osteoporosis, whereas the other group had none. So it is surmised that it’s the polyphenols in the organic extra-virgin that makes the difference.  

So on one of my short solo trips, I swung by this Olive ranch in Paso Robles. I’ve been buying their olive oil ever since my doctor recommended it.

Tony told me that in his family if you brought a friend over for dinner it was almost an insult if they asked for butter at the dinner table.  He grew up breaking off pieces of fresh bread and sopping up olive oil with it.

Paso Robles is one of my favorite parts of the state, rolling hills, huge oak trees, vineyards, and olives.  I’m ready to go again.

Will do on that garlic, Guy!  Thinking about olive oil is a segue to planning for a big garden… all the stuff Jan plants including every kind of tomato and herbs.  

I almost got this down to a science. Things will grow here so long as you watch the garden EVERY MINUTE and place a sentry around the plants and keep Russ nearby to commit acts of violence against all trespassers.  

DGoguenwrote:

“E. B. White explained it well: To foreigners, a Yankee is an American. To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner. To Northerners, a Yankee is a New Englander. To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter. And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.”

Don't forget the worst Yankees of them all, they play out of NYC 

Colden Darkwrote:  some Frenchie's on  the easy part of 20 below Zero Gully 4+

  

 

Slur or no slur? Discuss.

You should hear what they call us, it's not always Yankee.  We have so many French speaking folks up here that it's the main second language  taught in schools. 

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

If you are looking for something to be offended by certainly frenchy will do. I use it as a term of respect. They climb hard. I suspect Yankee is also a slur if you are looking to be offended but I am proud to be one. 

My heritage is french.  I've always known that, at least in mountaineering, being called frenchy or frenchie was a term of respect.  I'm not offended by being called a Yankee when I'm in another country.  But there are many time I travel as a "Canadian" as in many places in Europe offensive travelers from the US have given all of us a bad name.

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

If you are looking for something to be offended by certainly frenchy will do. I use it as a term of respect. They climb hard. I suspect Yankee is also a slur if you are looking to be offended but I am proud to be one. 

I asked my French buddy’s (from Marseille) and they had no idea. Yet responded “How about if we call you …”    

Never thought “Frenchie” was a slur, but the term “Queebe” as applied to climbers from Quebec at Rumney definitely is!  

Climberz meh. 

French Free is usually not considered a compliment, at least originally.  Now days I guess it is typically just used as a description of a technique.  

I’m at the gym this morning, trying to make a regular thing of it. I think Brandt is better at this (getting and staying strong.) 

I’m trying, but I just won’t work that hard. However, if I’m about to peel off a thin hold… I’ll work.  

Eric Engbergwrote:

French Free is usually not considered a compliment, at least originally.  Now days I guess it is typically just used as a description of a technique.  

Speaking of which I ended up doing that on an overhang I couldn’t clip last night when too fatigued to climb.

Bb Cc wrote:

If I don’t want to be called a Damn Yankee am I a Dodger?

A Dodger is better than being called a Giant